PKCLsoft

Goodbye Game Centre

Game Centre integration is on the way out for two of the PKCLsoft apps.

Today, updates for both Tap Times Tables and Math Plus Minus were rejected by Apple.

The reasons given were that both apps have links that can take the user out of the app. With the new “Kids” category that is coming out with iOS 7, any apps that want to be included in that area have to meet new, tighter rules.

One of those rules is that your app can’t have links that take the user (the kid) out of the app, unless there is a “gate” that can typically only be opened by a parent or adult.

As the kind people at momswithapps.com have pointed out here, there are different ways to implement a “gate”.

Now I can understand where Apple is coming from, so I’m acting accordingly. I’m removing Game Centre from both apps completely.

I don’t want to leave it in and put a “gate” there because it just doesn’t make sense from the kids point of view. If all s/he wants to do is look at his score, then asking for a parent to open the gate doesn’t make sense; it’s unwieldy.

So, the question I asked myself (and this was also asked in a way by Lorraine at momswithapps.com): “Does Game Centre really add any value to the apps?“

When I look at the apps in Game Centre, the number of players is only a small proportion of the total number of people that have downloaded the apps so perhaps it’s not such an important thing.

Encouraged by this, and also driven by the need to correct the issues for Apple, I’ve acted to remove Game Centre.

If you use either of these apps, and are upset by this, please let me know. If there is enough demand, I can look into adding it back in, in the future, and add a gate.